World oil prices eased on Friday on profit-taking ahead of the New Year but held on to the astonishing 40% gains made over the course of 2005, dealers said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, lost 45 cents to $59,87 per barrel in electronic trading.
In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery also shed 45 cents to $57,62 per barrel.
“London Brent and US light crude futures fell in early trade this [Friday] morning on thin profit-taking after a two-day rally,” noted analysts at the Sucden brokerage firm.
“Despite this, both markets are set to finish the year 40% higher than the close of 2004.”
Crude futures had hit historic high prices in late August following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina on United States Gulf Coast energy installations, striking $70,85 per barrel in New York and $68,89 in London.
That marked a 70% jump between January and August, but prices have since pulled back owing largely to mild weather across the northern hemisphere in the run-up to winter.
“With the warmer than expected temperatures in the US northeast the demand for heating oil is set to ease,” Sucden analysts added, placing less pressure on prices.
The northeast region accounts for about 80% of total energy demand in the United States.
Crude futures had jumped on Thursday after the release of the US Department of Energy (DoE) weekly inventories report showed an unexpected decline in distillate products and gasoline.
The DoE, meanwhile, said that US stocks of distillates, including heating fuel and diesel, fell 900 000 barrels to 126,8-million barrels in the week to December 23. That was more than the forecast decline of 788 000 barrels.
Petrol inventories fell 1,2-million barrels to 202,9-million, much more than the fall of 267 000 barrels predicted by analysts.
Oil prices had posted strong gains on Wednesday after Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh suggested a potential Opec production cut.
Speaking of the upcoming Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting on January 31 in Vienna, Kazem said he wanted the oil cartel to cut its output ceiling by one million barrels per day (bpd).
Iran is the second-biggest crude producer within Opec, whose official output ceiling currently stands at 28-million bpd. – AFP